1/48 Hobby Craft Boeing P-26A

[Grant Barr]

More progress to report. Final coats of both yellow and blue now applied. There are quite a few small areas requiring touch up where I have some minor bleed under the tape or did not properly mask around tight radius curves. This should not be too hard to fix over the next couple of days.

The other main painting task still outstanding is to put down the two black wing walk areas (currently still visible with the white undercoat).

With this paint scheme I originally went down the usual path - thinking that the aircraft would be a bit used and abused. Then I realised that the scheme I have chosen is an "air race" special and therefore I would expect the aircraft to be pretty clean - maybe even "tarted up" just for the event. So I have elected to keep the aging/wear and tear to a minimum hoping that it will look like a well looked after, clean aircraft for race day.

The other comment I would make is that I think the blue might be a touch too dark. I have read so many different opinions on just what the true shade should be I elected to just go with the closest colour I could find in the Vallejo acrylic range (same can be said for the yellow - some have even gone as far as saying it should be more orange than yellow!!). Hoping once the excellent decals go on, the variances in shade wont be such a talking point...

Looking forward to getting into the final detailing with rigging and various sticky-outy bits to apply.

Thanks again for checking in on progress.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Grant Barr]

Got organised tonight and put down some dirtied up black for the wing walk panels. Once I get the other touch ups done it will be time for a clear gloss coat and onto the stencils and decals. I'm starting to like how this one is turning out - still lots of things I can bollocks-up, but fingers crossed it'll be fine.

Cheers!

 

[Wurger]

 

[SaparotRob]

It's turning out very nice.

 

[fubar57]

Agreed

 

[Crimea_River]

Doing great Grant. Have fun with the rigging!

 

[Grant Barr]

Thanks gents! Not sure if I'm looking forward to the rigging Andy. Never actually rigged any of my models back in the day, and certainly not since resuming a couple of years ago. Could be a challenge given how shaky my hands are these days.

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far!

 

[Prop Duster]

View attachment 663170The other comment I would make is that I think the blue might be a touch too dark. I have read so many different opinions on just what the true shade should be I elected to just go with the closest colour I could find in the Vallejo acrylic range (same can be said for the yellow - some have even gone as far as saying it should be more orange than yellow!!). Hoping once the excellent decals go on, the variances in shade wont be such a talking point....

Like --Billybuttons!-- everybody has one and they all think theirs is right. So your color choices are correct, for you and the rest of "them' can go fish!

----unless it's Dana Bell and then he's Always Right

 

[Grant Barr]

unless it's Dana Bell and then he's Always Right

Agreed! He's probably forgotten more about colour schemes than I know.

 

[Crimea_River]

I'm a big fan of the rigging technique used here in my Gladiator build: **** DONE: GB-45 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - BoB/Foreign Service

 

[Grant Barr]

I'm a big fan of the rigging technique used here in my Gladiator build: **** DONE: GB-45 1/48 Gloster Gladiator - BoB/Foreign Service

Thanks Andy - I've not seen that thread before so I'll add that to my list of possibilities.

Right now I have two options that I can use - EZ Line or stretched sprue. I was leaning toward the stretched sprue option as I felt that the EZ Line was just too thin, but now I am undecided... I did like the profile of the thread you found!

But - not going to worry about that just yet.

Right now I am in the process of getting all the decals in place. With one exception all the decals I've placed to date have gone on beautifully. I did anticipate problems with the colour panels for the spats. I tried a test of one side on the LH spat. Once I got the decal positioned correctly I then applied copious MicroSol solution to see if I could soften and shrink them enough to pull back to the tight compound curves on the front of these spats. I spent the whole day applying repeated coats of MicroSol, but at the end of the day I still had some significant puckering along the front edge - it was just not going to shrink enough to fit properly. I didn't take any photos but I hope that I explained the issue enough.

So I pulled the test decal off and I am in the process of painting these. I'm a bit concerned about colour match - I think it's close but not sure if it will stand up to intense scrutiny...

Might have some time to take some in-progress shots today.

Cheers all.

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, you will just have to eliminate anyone who will subject your model to intense scrutiny!

 

[Grant Barr]

Bugger! Bugger! Bugger!!!!!

So...... had a little issue with the decals. I had very carefully masked off the aircraft to allow me to paint the front of each wheel spat with the red/yellow patterns to replace the decals that would not conform to the shape... You guessed it - removing the masking tape pulled off some of the main decals on the side of the fuselage - ! Even though I removed almost all the tackiness from the tape they still pulled away - should have clear coated them first like I originally intended (teach me to get lazy!).

Replacement set ordered last night (along with a very tidy set to suit a P-36 - now added this aircraft to my future build list...). Might take a while to get from the US of A to down under, but I can still do some more work and tidy up on the kit as it stands today. Just need to calm down a bit and make sure I don't start throwing the teddy bear out of the cot.

Meanwhile I might break my rule of only one kit on the bench at a time and start on the next one.

 

[Crimea_River]

A shame that. Hopefully easily fixed.

 

[Grant Barr]

Another small update. Photos to show the painted wheel spats, as well as the damaged decals .

I have to say that despite the c*ck-up with the decals I am really quite happy with how the spats turned out. As the photos show the colour match is actually pretty good. Perhaps the yellow outlines could be a tiny bit narrower I am satisfied with them. The edges will need a little sand/polish to blend them into the overall finish so that will be the next step while I wait for the replacement decals to arrive.

Onward and upwards!

Cheers.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Vic Balshaw]

If you want to have a look at another form of rigging, check these out.
DONE: 1/48 Gloster Gladiator I - From WW1 to WW2 GB
DONE: 1/48 Gloster Gauntlet II – From WW1 to WW2 GB
DONE: 1/48 RAE SE.5a From WW1 to WW2 GB
Got to say that you are doing some serious modelling, very inspiring.

 

[Grant Barr]

Thanks Wurger , always nice to see you pop in.

Vic Balshaw - holy crap!!!! I just read through your threads from nearly 10 years ago. I have to say there is no way I will be able to do this for my P-26, I have some of the materials required but I have absolutely none of the skills and patience required. I'll probably stick with my original plan to use the old stretched sprue method but I have a number of other biplanes in the to-do list that are prime candidates for your techniques. I'll be bookmarking your threads for future reference! Hope the weather up in the nation's capital is Ok - you guys escaped most of the flooding right?

Cheers.